A Lat of history

Ahead of Cliftonville Strollers’ eagerly-anticipated return to European action this evening, cliftonvillefc.net turns the clock back across two decades to examine the Club’s history of meetings with Latvian opposition.

The Wee Reds tackle Super Nova in the first leg of their UEFA Youth League first round tie at Solitude tonight and, with admission entirely free, we’d love to see the Red Army out in force for the occasion as we chase just our second victory over a side from Latvia, some 19 years after the first.

That came way back in the memorable summer of 2007 when, following a 1-1 draw with FC Dinaburg at Windsor Park – where Kieran O’Connor (above) was a debut goalscorer – Eddie Patterson’s side completed the job in the second leg at the Celtnieks Stadium in Daugavpils; Mark Holland’s early header (below) securing a 2-1 aggregate victory in the Intertoto Cup first round clash.

Some 17 years passed until the Reds next locked horns with a Latvian opponent when Jim Magilton’s Irish Cup winners were paired with Auda in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Conference League.

Another goalscoring debutant, Luke Conlan (below), cancelled out the visitors’ opener only for Auda to claim a 2-1 win on the night before adding two further unanswered goals at the Skonto Stadium in Riga the following week.

Having waited more than a decade-and-a-half to renew links with Latvia, it was just seven weeks later that the Club was next represented in the Baltic state when the Strollers made their UEFA Youth League bow against BFC Daugavpils – whose senior home ground was none other than the Celtnieks Stadium.

Featuring five players who had been in the squad for the trip to face Auda, the Wee Reds slipped to a 1-0 reverse at LNK Sporta Parks in Riga before suffering a heartbreaking loss back in Belfast where, following Oili McCart’s deflected free-kick, Shay Reid’s injury-time header (below) looked to have sent Cliftonville through only for Daugavpils, who had shown almost literally zero attacking intent all night, to immediately level the aggregate scores before triumphing 4-2 on penalties.

The pain of that occasion will no doubt be on the minds of those, such as Paul Stanfield, who remain part of the Strollers’ set-up as they prepare for action against Super Nova tonight, when the team will bid to lay the foundations for a happier outcome in their next engagement in Riga.